System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) Build Numbers

If you’re bent out of shape with the fact that Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager has gone away from the old naming convention (i.e. SCCM 2007, SCCM 2012, SCCM 2012 R2), you’re not alone. I’ve been asked the rhyme and reason for why the new SCCM build is not just called SCCM 2016? Similar to Windows 10 being the last “version” with updates coming in the result of build updates, SCCM has taken a similar approach such as SCCM 1511, 1602, & 1606. Now if this sounds freakin confusion, trust me, it get better.

The build number is referring to the year and month the final build was ready. For example, SCCM 1511 was at it’s final build in 2015 and in the month of November. However, SCCM 1511 release was first made available on December 8, 2015, so we cannot say that SCCM 1511 was released in November 2015 but around November 2015. This corresponds with SCCM 1602 being released in March 2016 and SCCM 1606 being released July 2016. So you can sound smart in meetings by saying that SCCM 1606 was released in June 2016 — but then someone smarter might try to 1-up you and give you the real release date, leaving you with that oh-crap-I-should’ve-known-that look for all your co-workers to see.

For an exhaustive list of Microsoft releases including dates, build numbers, and description links go to the Build Numbers Wordpress blog as they have done a great job in keeping us all updated with build information for Exchange, Office, SCCM, SCOM, SharePoint and SQL Server.